War being declared against Mithridates, king of Pontus, was the
signal of discord between Marius and Sylla. These two rivals, whose
animosity knew no bounds, demanded at the same time the command of
the army. Sylla obtained it from the Senate, and immediately went to
place himself at the head of his troops. Marius took advantage of
his absence, and, with the assistance of the tribune Sulpicius, he
so excited the people against the nobles, that Sylla was deprived of
his command which was conferred upon him. Sylla, far from obeying
the sentence of the people, marched straight to Rome with his army,
consisting of forty thousand men. This was the first time, since
Coriolanus, that this great city had been besieged by one of its
own citizens. Destitute of everything, its only defence being a few
soldiers got together in haste by Marius, it did not make a long
resistance. Sylla entered as an enemy; the multitude mounted upon
the roofs of the houses, armed with anything they could lay hold of,
and poured such a shower of stones and tiles upon the heads of his
soldiers, that they could not advance. Sylla, forgetful of what he
owed to his country and to himself, cried out to his men to set fire
to the houses; and, arming himself with a blazing brand, gave them the
example. Marius, too weak to contend with his rival, abandoned to him
the centre of the empire. The conqueror affected great moderation,
prevented the pillage of his country, reformed the government, raised
the authority of the Senate upon the ruins of that of the people, put
to death Sulpicius, with ten other senators, partisans of his rival,
and embarked for Asia.
This second absence replunged Rome into fresh misfortunes; the faction
of the people, of which Marius was the soul, excited by Cinna, took
courage again. This consul, having won over some tribunes, caused so
much trouble, that he was driven from the city and deprived of the
consulate; but he succeeded in gaining to his quarrel a large army
encamped in the Campania, and almost all the peoples of Italy. Marius,
who had taken refuge in Africa, recrossed the sea, and came to join
Cinna; he was immediately declared pro-consul. It was proposed to give
him fasces and lictors, but he rejected them: “Such honours,” said he,
“would not become a banished man.” His party held a council, and it was
determined to go and attack Rome: Sylla had set them the example.
Rome, always victorious against external enemies, but always weak
against domestic attacks, saw herself besieged by four armies,
commanded by Marius, Cinna, Sertorius, and Carbo. Masters of all
the passages, they subjected the city to famine, and reduced its
inhabitants to extremity. Pompeius Strabo came at last, but too late,
to the succour of his country with an army. Rome, in a state of
consternation, and seeing herself on the verge of ruin, sent deputies
to the enemies to invite them to enter the city. A council was held.
Marius and Cinna, after having marked out their victims, gave the
city up to all the horrors of war. A multitude of virtuous Romans
were immolated to the vengeance of the two leaders; Marius inundated
his country with the purest blood of the republic. Birth and riches
were unpardonable crimes; a nod of this tyrant’s head was an order
for death. This ferocious and barbarous man, after having exercised
the most horrible cruelties, died a short time after this victory, in
the middle of Rome itself, of which he had been the preserver and the
executioner.